Ignition system for gas-engines



J. KELLY.

IGNITION SYSTEM FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 9| 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

22 "a 2g 35 7o 7- $4 anon tor J. KELLY.

IGNITION SYSTEM FOR GAS ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, I918.

2 SHEETS-SHE I To all whom it may concern.

mm sr 'ras' JAMES KELLY,

earl-3m OFFICE. or EAGLE PASS, rams, Assrerzro'n or ONE-HALF :ro enonen I nomrscmaenn, or s'rmonn, MONTANA. I 1

IGNITION sYs'rEm For. GAS-ENGINES.

Be it known that I, JAMES KELLY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Eagle Pass fin the county of Maverick and State of exas,'ha've.invented new and useful Im rovements in Ignition Systems for Gasngines, of which the followis a specification.

in he present invention has reference generally to improvements in that class of inventions known" as internal combustion engines and more particularly relates to an ignition system for gas engines.

As the principal aim and object of this invention contemplates the pro-vision of a system of the above character designed to serve as a combination coil, distributer, interrupter and condenser for use in connection with storage batteries and low tensioned 'ma netos not timed to the engine shaft.

t is an additional object of this invention to provide asystem of the above nature and character which is constructed in a compact unit and which is both dust and water proof.

Among the other aims and objects of this invention may be recited the provision of a device. of the charactermentioned with a view to compactness, and in which the number of parts are few, the construction simple, thecost of productionlow and the efficiency hi h.

ther improvements and novel details in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of the apparatus will be brought out more in detail in the description to follow, which fora clear understanding of the invention, should be considered in connection with the accompanying drawings formin a part hereof, and wherein is disclosed or the purpose of illustration, a convenient and satisfactory embodiment of the invention. It is to be noted in this connection that minor changes in the construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Specification of Letters Patent.

' inner casin 9 is a cover 16 therefor.

Patented se t. 14, 1920.

Application filed February 9, ,1918. Serial No. 216,249. i

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the device with the mam cover removed; and

' 6 is a diagrammatic view.

Similar reference characters are employed in all the above described views, to indi- .(not shown) for. oscillating the casing. An

inner cylindrical casing 9 is now employed and is disposed within the outer casing be ing provided in its bottom with a recess 10 in which is rigidly mounted a head 11 formed on the upper end of a shaft 12 which is adapted to be suitably gearedto' an internal combustion engine. This shaft is iournaled in the collar 6 while the head 11 1s in turn seated on the upper surface of the Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on line 44 of F 1g, 1; A

2 and a bottom 3 having boss 5, this arrangement serving to effectively 7 I rotatably mount the inner casing within the outer casing which oscillates about the shaft.

Removably arranged in the non-conducting casing 9 is a core 13 about whichis wound the rimary coil 14 rounded to the head 11' at its lower end while wound about the primary coil is a secondary coil 15 which is also'grounded at its lower or inner end to the head -11 of the shaft.

Removably fitted on the upper edge of the An annular rib 1 is formed on theuppersurface of the cover 16 adjacent the outer edge thereof and provides a recess 18 between the walls thereof. Both the cover and the rib are formed of non-conducting material while the upper surface of the cover adjacent the center thereof is provided with an annular recess 19 in which is fitted a metallic ring 20 having formed on its upper surface at suitably spaced points, cams 21 for a purpose that will presently appear. In this connection it is to be observed that the upper termiml of -the primary coil extends. through thecover and is electrically connected to the ring 20. .The rib and the cover are also provided with a recess 22 in which is sl1dably mounted a brushscontacting head 23. Suitable resilient means such as a coil spring 24 is disposed in the recess and is tensioned 'so as to normally hold the head 23 flush with the upper edge of the rib while the s ring in turn is connected to the upper en of the secondary coil so as. to conduct current from this coil to the head. Removably fitted on the upfer edge of the main casing is a cover 25.

which depends a flange 27 for removable engagement with the up er edge of the casing 1 while the body is urther provided centrally thereof with a recess 28 for a urpose that will presently appear. The un er surface of the body is still further rovided with an annular recess 29 adjacent t e. outer edge.

ment with the cams 21 as indicated in 5' being designed to be contacted by a y1eld-.. 'ingly mounted contacting brush head 23 dur ing the rotation of the inner casing which carries the cover 17 so that current will successively pass from the contact brush head contact with an adjusting screw 38(i 23 to the contact brushes 32 formed integral with and projecting from the upper surface of the main cover 25. At polnts directly above the brushes 32 are binding posts 33 while conducting wires 34 are mounted with-v in these osts and electrically connected to the said rushes 32 for apurpose that will presently appear.

(Joiiperatmg with the cams 21 which serve as contact breakers is the rocker arm 35 pivotally mounted between depending cars 36 in the under surface of the cover 25. A roller contact 37 is journaled on one end of the arm for engagement with the ring 20 and the cams 21. An eye 37 is formed on the opposite end ofthe arm and carries a contact point 37" which is normally disposed in adjustably engaged in a sleeve 39 mounte in turn in an opening 40 in the cover; A conducting wire 41 is led from the sleeve and extends through the central binding post 42 formed on the upper surface of the'cover 25. Suitable resilient means such as a leaf s has one end secured to the cover an its opposite end bearing against the arm so as to normally hold the contact point 37 against the lower edge of the screw-.38. However, during rotation of the inner casing and oshis cover consists of a body 26 from the outer edge of and inasmuch as this brush ring 43 cillation of the outer casing the cams will cause the roller to move upwardly and the contact point 37 to move downwardly soas to break the circuit.

To prevent burning of the contact point and the screw 38 another conducting wire 44 isv led from the cars 36 and is connected to a condenser ositioned in a recess 28. The sheets 45 of t is condenser are arranged in spaced insulated relation with the sheets 46 of the other side of the condenser which is electrical] connected to the conducting wire 41 w ich passes through the binding post 42.

- In constructing the remainder of the system s ecial'reference will be had to Fig. 6 wherein it will be observed that conducting wires 47 are electrically connected respectively to the conducting wires 34 at their inner ends and have their opposite ends connected to spark plugs 48 so that current will be alternately conducted from the secondary coil to the spark plugs. Another conducting wire 49 is now employed and is led from the wire 42 and is adapted to be groundedas at for instance to the engine casing. v .A. series of batteries 50 are interposed in the conducting wire 49 .while the passage of current through the conducting wire may be con-' trolled by a switch 51.

I The mode of operation of the present invention may be reviewed asfollows: Current from the primary coil which is grounded to the ring 20 passes from the ring during the rotation of the casing 9 and oscillation of the casing 1 to the rec er arm 35 throu h the instrumen'talityof the roller contact 3 normally held on the ring and inthe path of movement of the cams 21, while the contact 37" is normally positioned against the screw 38. so that current will flow from the arni through the screw 38 and thence through-the wire 41 to the wire-'49 and through the batteries where it is grounded to the engine casing (not shown). It follows this course assuming that the switch is closed. The circuit is broken, of course, when the cams 21 are enga d by the roller contact which latter is raise to consequently move the contact 37 downwardl and out of contact with the screw 38. S ould the current be too strong some of it passes from the conducting wire 44 into the condenser composing the'sheets 45 and 46 Where it is quenched so as to avoid burning of the contact point 37" and the screw 38. The current from the secondary coil flows through the spring 22 and thecontact brush head 23 head is yieldinglg held in engagement with the band 31, as t e distributing contact brushes 32 move into engagement withthe brush head 23 the current Wlll pass to the conducting wires 34 and the conducting wires 47 so as to conduct the current to the spark plugs 48 allowing the spark to jump thereacross. In this connection it will be observed that the current passes from the brush head 23 to each of the distributing contact brushes 32 simultaneously with the passage of current from those portions of the ring between the cams 21 to the roller contact 37.

It is believed that in view of the foregoing description, a further detailed description of the operation of the invention isentirely unnecessary. Likewise it is thought that the advantages of the invention will be readily apparent. However, at this point special attention is directed to the compact manner of forming the device which serves as a combination coil, distributer, interrupter and a condenser. By reason of the construction it will also be observed that there are no loose or moving wires which would have a tendency to affect the efficiency of the operation.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, and it is intended that all matter contained in the above description orshown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense. It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claim is intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention described and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed'is:

An apparatus of the kind set forth comprising a pair of casings, the one being rotatably mounted within the other, an induction coil carried within the rotatably mounted casing, one terminal of the primary of said coil being grounded to the casing, a ring centrally disposed on top of said rotatable casing and formed on its upper face with a plurality of uniformly s acedcam elements, the remaining terminal of the primary of the said induction coil being connected to this ring, a cover removably secured to the outer casing and inclosing the inner casing therein,.binding posts carried by said cover and disposed at equi-angular distances thereon, contact elements electrically connected with the binding posts and carried on the inner face of the cover, a sliding contact element carried by the inner casing for engagement with the first said contact elements when the casing is rotated, one terminal of the secondary of the induction coil being connected to this last'said contact element and the remaining terminal being grounded to the inner casing, a screw threadingly engaged in the cover member and passing therethrough, a binding post carried by the cover member with which the screw is electrically connected, a rocker arm pivotally mounted on the cover member, a roller contact carried by the rocker arm and bearing upon the said ring and cam elements thereof when the inner casing is rotated, and a contact member carried by the rocker arm at the end remote from the roll, the last said contact member being brought into contact with and separated from the said screw when the inner casing is rotated, the screw rovidlng adjustment to position it for contact with the last said contact. member when the roll on the rocker arm rests on the ring between the cam element thereof.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JAMES KELLY. 

